Typewriting machine



Nov. 3, 1931. E. B. HESS TYPEWRITING MACHINE Filed March 4, 1930 3Sheets-Sheet 1 BY zzzwwzzajza,

INVENQTOR mm, (Mag/1- ATTORNEYS.

Nov. 3, 1931. E. B. HESS TYPEWRITING MACHINE Filed March 4, 1930 5Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEYS.

Nov. 3, 1931. E. B. HESS TYPEWRITING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 FiledMarch 4, 1930 Patented Nov. 3, 1931 I UNITED TA-res EDWARD B. HESS, FORLANDO, FLORIDA, ASSIGNOR3'IO RDYAL' TYPEWRITER COMPANY,

PATENT "O 11m, 01? NEW YORK, N. Y.; A coRnoRnTIoN on NEW YORKTYPEWRITING MACHINE Application filed March 4, 1930. ,v Serial No.433,064.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in typewritingmachines generally, although more particularly to a carriagecentralizing device therefor.

Portable typewriting machines are generally mounted in carrying cases orcabinets which include a base to which the machine is attached, and aremovable cover. These cases are built as small as possible andtherefore shift lock release key, thereby positioning thecarriage inproper position to permit the A its lower position. When it is desiredto applythe cover, it is necessary to centralize thecarriage relative tothe main frame, and, 'if the carriage is 111 upper case position, it 1snecessary to lower the same by operating the ready application of thecover. In the centralizing operation, if the carriage is positioned toofar to the right or left relative to the main frame, to the extent ofseveral letter spaces, it is practically impossible to apply the cover,and it then becomes necessary for the operator to move the carriageuntil its exact center .position'is obtained.

oftentimes the operator, after centralizing the carriage and placing thecover overthe machine, finds that the cover will not engage the baseowing to the carriage being in its upper position. It is then necessaryfor the operator to remove the cover, lower the car riage, and thenreposition the cover.

In portable machines, practlcehas demon strated that jars and shocksincident to transportation are very detrimental to the escapement owingto the'carriage being connected.

Among the several objects of my invention are to provide a device whichmay be manually moved into the path of movement of the carriage toeffect a stoppage'of the carriage in an exact centralizing position andwhich may be manually moved out of said path of movement; to providesuch a device which may be retained against accidental displace ment ineither its effective or ineffective position; to provide such a devicewhich when,

moved toits effective or centralizing position will function to releasethe carriage escapement rack and hold the same released whilesimultaneously locking the carriage againsttrav'el movement in eitherdirection to provide a direct connection between said device and theshift lock key whereby the latter will be released automatically uponmovement of the former in one direction, and

to provide such a connection which will permit the operation of theshift key without im parting movement to the centralizing device.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portable typewritingmachine embodying my invention, the shift frame being shown locked inits upper position and the centralizing device being shown in itsineffective position,

Figure 2 is a similar View, but showingthe centralizing device 'in'itsoperative position, the shift lever released, and the shift framein itslower position.

, Figure 3 is altop plan view thereof, p Figure 4 is a detail sideelevation showing means for yieldably retaining the centralizing devicein its ineffective position, I

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 2 but showing another form of myinvention, and

' Figure 6 is a detail top plan view thereof, and

-Figure 7 is a detail section.

In the accompanying drawings Ihave'il lustrated my invention as beingapplied to a Royal portable machine,such as is shown and described inthe patent to Myers, 1,559,123, Oct. 27, 1925, and therefore only suchparts ofjsaidmachine are shown in the accompanying drawings as will benecessary to sulficiently illustrate the application of my invention. i

' In the said drawings I have shown a main frame A in which is mountedfor vertical movements a shift frame B on which is mounted for letterspace movementsaqcarriage G having a platen 5. Type bars -D are mountedon a segment on the mainframe in the usual manner for cooperation withthe platen 5. The'carriage C is supportedon the shift frame B, throughthe medium ofupper and lower pairsof rails 6-6 and 7'7, the former beingfixed to the'carriage and the i shift lever 9 and functions to normallyurge i the upper position, the rear pressure exerted latter being fixedto the shift frame. Antifriction balls 8 are disposed between associatedupper and lower rails.

A shift key lever 9 is provided at its front end with a key 10 and isoperatively connected to the shift frame B as disclosed in the Myerspatent referred to above. This shift key lever is pivoted as at 11 to abracket 12 secured to the main frame. The shift key lever 9 is providedwith an extension 13 which projects upwardly above the pivot 11 and isconnected at its upper end to a link 14 which is connected to the shiftframe B.

A shift lock key 15 has a stem provided with a short forward extensionpivoted at 16 to the front portion of the shift key lever 9. The key 15is provided with alip 17 which is adapted to engage the underside of theshift lever 9. A spring 18 is connected at one end to the shift lock keyand at its other end to the the shift lock key 15 in a forwarddirection. The shift lock key is provided with a dwell or seat 19 whichis adapted to engage a pin 20 fixed to an arm 21 extending forwardlyfrom the main frame A. Thus when it is desired to raise the shift frameto its upper position, and retain it in said position, the operatorurges the shift lock key 15 downwardly and rearwardly. When the shiftframe reaches on the shift lock key 15 will cause the dwell or seat 19to be positioned under-the pin 20, and'upon release of said key 15 bythe operator the shift frame will be locked in its upper position. Itwill be. understood that the friction between the seat 19 and the pin 20is greater than the tension of the spring 18 and consequently the shiftlock key 15 will remain in its locked position until released.

The machine includes the usual spring 1110- tor 22 and an escapementmechanism which includes the usual pinion 23 and feed rack 24. The feedrack 24 is pivotally mounted at its ends as at 25 to the carriage endsand rigidly connected with the opposite ends of the feed rack 24 arecarriage release arms or levers 26 and 27, the former being located atthe lefthand end of the carriage and the latter being located at theright hand end thereof. It will be understood that the feed rack 2a isnormally held in cooperative engagement with the escapement pinion 23through the medium of a spring (not shown).

As previously stated, my invention is particularly adapted for use inconnection with portable machines and usually these machines are mountedin carrying cases, each case including a base 28 and a cover 29. Themachine is fixedly secured to the base 28 by any suitable means and thecover 29 is adapted to be positioned over the machine and detachably andremovably connected to said base. Inasmuch as the case is of a sizesufficient only to receive the machine, it is necessary to centralizethe carriage C with respect to the side walls of the main frame, andalso necessary to have the shift frame in its lower position.

It is also desirable to release the carriage escapement and lock thecarriage against travelmovement in either direction when the carriage isin its centralized position and at the same time maintaining theescapement in its released condition.

In order to positively center the carriage relative to the main framepreparatory to positioning the cover 29 on the base 28, I have provideda manually operable central izing device or stop 30 which consists of ahell crank lever as shown in Figures 1 to 4. This lever is pivoted atits angle as at 31 to the left hand side plate of the main frame infront of the carriage C, and includes a stop arm 32 and an operating arm33. IVhen the centralizing device 30 is in its ineffective position, asshown in Figure 1, the stop arm 32 is disposed in front of the carriagewhereas when the device is in effective position it is disposed in thepath of travel of the carriage as shown in Figure 2. Stop pins 34 and 35on the side plate of the main frame A cooperate with the stop arm 32 andoperating arm 33 to limit the effective and ineffective positions of thedevice. It will be observed that the device is operable manually to eachposition. IVhen the device is in effective position, the stop arm 32will be disposed in a position to be engaged by the left hand end of thefront carriage rail 6 and thereby centralize the carriage relative tothe main frame.

In Figure 4, I have illustrated a modified form wherein the deviceisyieldably held in its ineffective position by a spring 30a which isconnected at one end to the operating arm 33 and at its other end to theside plate of the main frame A.

' A link 36 is pivotally connected at its rear end 'as at 37 to theoperating arm 33 of the centralizing stop 30, and at its other end tothe shift lock key 15 at a point below the pivot 16 thereof, the latterconnection comprising a pin 38 fixed to the key 15 and a loop 39 formedin the link 36. \V hen it is desired to centralize the carriage, theoperator first moves the carriage to the right and then swings thecentralizing stop 30 rearwardlv until the stop arm 32 is positioned inthe path of movement of the carriage when the latter is moved to theleft upon release of the escapement mechanism. The operator releases theescapement mechanism by shifting either of'the carriage release levers26 or 27, preferably the latter. The operator maintains the escapementmechanism in its released position until the carriage has moved to theleft and has engaged the stop arm 32. In the form shown in Figures 1 and2 the centralizing device 30 will remain in its effective position untilwithdrawnby the operator. If the Figure 4 construction is employed, thespring 30a will function to automatically return the centralizing device30 to its'ineifective position as soon as released by the operator.

If the shift frame is locked in its upper position by the shift lock key15, as shown in Figure 1, the rearward swinging movement of thecentralizing device 30 will through the link 36. swingthe key 15 on. itspivot and thereby release the shift key lever 9 and permit the shiftframe to move to its lower position. By reason of the loose connectionbetween the link 36 and the key 15, the shift key lever 9 may beoperated without imparting any movement to the centralizing device 30regardless of whether the device is in its effective or ineffectiveposition.

In the form illustrated in Figures 5 and 6, I have provided acentralizing device which when moved to its efiective position will notonly release the escapement mechanism but will also look the carriageagainst travel movement in either direction. To this end, I-haveprovided a centralizing device 40 in the form of a bell crank leverwhich is pivoted as at 41 to the side plate of the main frame at a pointdirectly below the carriage.

This lever includes a stop arm 42 and an operating arm 43, the latterbeing movable Iment in either direction.

to the upper and lower stop pins 44 and 45 which limit the effective andineffective positions of the device. The stop arm 42 eX-- tends upwardlyfrom the pivot 41 and terminates in a rearwardly extending linger 46'which is adapted to be positioned between the lower end of the left handcarriage release lever 26 and an oflset and upwardly extending stop lug47 fixed to the lower end of said carriage release lever 26. Thus afterthe carriage has been moved to its centralizing position, the stopdevice 40 will be swung to the full line position shown in Figure 5.This swinging movement will cause the arm 42 to cam the lower end of thecarriage release lever 26 and thereby release the escapement mechanismby swinging the rack 24 away from the escapement pinion 23. At

rearwardly between the lower edge of the carriage release lever 26 andthe upstanding lug 47 carried thereby and consequently the carriage willbe locked against travel move- It is desirable to retain the stop device40 in either of its eX- treme positions of adjustment and for thispurpose I have provided the operating arm 43 with a projection 48 whichis adapted to engage spaced depressions 49 formed in the adjacent sideplate of the main frame and thereby frictionally retain said device 40in either of its extreme positions of adjustment. In this form, I havealso connected the stop Idevice 40 with the shift lock key 15 by a link50 which is similar in construction and operates in the same manner asthe link 36 described in connection with the constructions shown inFigures 1 and 2.

Vvlien the carriage is in its lower position and it is desired to centerthe carriage preparatory to enclosing the machine, the centralizing orstop device is swung rearwardly to engage and swing the release lever 26to release the rack 24 from the escapement pinion 23, and to positionthe finger 46 thereof between the lower end of the carriage releaselever 26 and the upstanding lug carried thereby to retain the carriageagainst endwise movement, the centralizing lever being retained in itsoperative position by the proj ection 48 carried thereby and engagingthe upper depression 49. When the carriage is in its upper position andthe centralizing lever is moved rearwardly, the above describedoperations occur, and in addition the shift lock key 15 is released topermit the carriage to move to its lower position where it will belocked against upward movement until the shift lever is again depressed.

I claim:

1. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a shift frame, of acarriage mounted thereon for letter space movements, a shift lever, ashift lock cooperating with the lever to lock the frame in its upperposition, a manually operative carriage centralizing device movable intothe path of movement of the carriage, and a link directly and pivotallyconnected at its ends to the centralizing device and to the shift lockrespectively for releasing the latter upon movement of the former in onedirection.

2. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a shift frame, of acarriage mounted thereon for letter space movements, a shift lever, ashift lock cooperating with the lever to lock the frame in its upperposition, a manually operative carriage centralizing device movable intothe path of movement of the carriage, and a link directly and pivotallyconnected at its ends to the centralizing device and to the shift lockrespectively for releasing the latter upon movement ofv the former inone direction, the connection between the link and the shift lock beinga loose connection to permit movement of the shift lever without movingthe centralizing device.

3. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a main frame having astop, of a shift frame mounted thereon for vertical movements, acarriage mounted on the shift frame for letter space movements, a shiftlever fulcrumed on the main frame for cooperation with the shift frame,a shift lock pivoted on the shift lever for cooperation with the stop onthe main frame to lock the shift frame in its upper position, a manuallyoperative carriage centralizing device movable into the path of thecarriage, and a link directly and pivotally connected at its ends to thecentralizing device and to the shift lock respectively for releasing thelatter upon movement of the former in one direction, the connectingmeans between the centralizing device and the shift lock including aloose connection for permitting movement of the shift lever withoutmoving the centralizing device, the connection between the link and theshift lock comprising a pin fixed to the shift lock and a loop carriedby the link for cooperation with the pin.

4. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a carriage element, asegment element, one of said elements being movable from lower positionto upper position, means including a shift lever for moving the movableelement from lower position to upper position, means cooperating withthe shift lever for locking the movable element in its upper position, acarriage centralizing device movable into the path of movement of thecarriage, and a link directly and pivotally connected at its ends to thecentralizing device and to the shift lock respectively for releasing thelatter upon movement of the former in one direction.

5. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a carriage element, asegment element, one of said elements being movable from lower positionto upper position, means including a shift lever for moving the movableelcment from lower position to upper position, means cooperating withthe shift lever for locking the movable element in its upper position, acarriage centralizing device movable into the path of movement of thecarriage, and a link directly and pivotally connected at its ends to thecentralizing device and to the shift lock respectively for releasing thelatter upon movement of the former in one direction, the connectionbetween the link and the shift lock being a loose connection to permitmovement of the shift lever without moving the centralizing device.

6. In a typewriting machine, the combina tion with a main frame, of ashift frame, a carriage mounted thereon for letter space movements, ashift lever, a shift lock cooperating with the lever to lock the framein its upper position, a manually operable centralizing lever pivoted tothe main frame to swing rearwardly and forwardly into and out of thepath of movement of the carriage, and a link directly and pivetallyconnected at its ends to said centralizing lever and to the shift lockrespectively for releasing the latter upon movement of the former.

7. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a main frame, of ashift frame, a carriage mounted thereon for letter space movements, ashift lever, a shift lock cooperating with the lever to lock the framein its upper position, a manually operable centralizing lever pivoted tothe main frame to swing rearwardly and forwardly into and out of thepath of movement of the carriage, means for normally retaining saidlever in its forward ineffective position, and a link directly andpivotally connected at its ends to said centralizing lever and to theshift lock respectively for releasing the latter upon movement of theformer.

8. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a main frame, of ashift frame, a carriage mounted thereon for letter space movements, ashift lever, a shift lock cooperating with the lever to lock the framein its upper position, a manually operable centralizing lever pivoted tothe main frame to swing rearwardly and forwardly into and out of thepath of movement of the carriage, stops on the main frame to limit theforward and backward movements of the centralizing lever, a springconnecting the centralizing lever and main frame for normally retainingsaid centralizing lever in its forward ineffective position, and a linkdirectly and pivotally connected at its ends to said centralizing leverandv to the shift lock respectively for releasing the latter uponmovement of the former.

9. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a shift frame, of acarriage mounted thereon for letter space movements, an escapementmechanism for controlling said carriage movements including anescapement pinion, a pivoteo rack mounted on the carriage and movableinto and out of engagement with the pinion, a manually operablecentralizing lever fulcrumed on the main frame to swing rearwardly andforwardly into and out of the path of movement of the carriage and toengage the rack and release the same from the pinion during rearwardmovement of the centralizing lever, and a link directly and pivotallyconnected at its ends to the centralizing lever and the shift lock forreleasing the latter upon rearward movement of the former.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name.

EDIVARD B. HESS.

